-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The interesting news in the latest CNN/ORC International poll that Bill Clinton is pulling a 66 % favorable rating among Americans suggests the 42nd president has the power to help or hurt Barack Obama as the 2012 campaign enters its final five months .

The question is : Which has he been doing more of lately ?

The poll was a reminder that Americans tend to be more forgiving of their presidents over time , no matter how long they served , which party they hailed from or how voters may have felt about a commander in chief at the moment he stepped down .

Jimmy Carter -LRB- 54 % -RRB- , George Herbert Walker Bush -LRB- 59 % -RRB- and Clinton , who have been out of office between 31 and 11 years , all earned personal approval ratings north of 50 % ; only George W. Bush , who stepped down three years ago , is below 50 % . But even his rating has improved since he returned to private life . Being an ex-president is almost always good for your approval rating .

Photos : Secrets of the Presidents Club , from Truman to Obama

The CNN poll appears at the moment when Clinton has once again been playing an outsize role on the public stage , and many have suggested all sorts of theories and reasons for maneuvering . Some have read in his comments about Mitt Romney -LRB- he called his business record `` sterling '' -RRB- a desire to undercut Obama or set the table for a run by his wife , Hillary , in 2016 . This analysis gained momentum when Clinton told CNBC that economics demanded that the Bush tax cuts should be extended temporarily . That comment led Clinton to apologize .

But the evidence does n't really support a campaign of sabotage . A simpler explanation for Clinton 's capering -- and one that better fits Clinton 's record -- is that he is a permanent political consultant . And his `` candidate '' is n't paying close attention to his advice .

Clinton is trying to change the debate in the presidential campaign from one about the past to one about the future . Fighting about who did what in the 1980s , Clinton thinks , is a sure loser . Better to focus on who has the better plan going forward . -LRB- Remember the chorus of his campaign song ? `` Do n't stop thinking about tomorrow . '' -RRB- So he has taken his approach to the airwaves .

It is easy to forget that Clinton has differed with the White House in the past about how to frame a political race . In 2010 , working through Vice President Joe Biden , he urged Obama to make the case that the president had done a number of things to improve the lives of Americans in his first two years and suggested the president campaign on his record . But the White House resisted this approach , fearing the stimulus and health care reform were not popular enough to brag about and instead tried to make the Republican agenda the issue . Clinton disagreed but -LRB- mostly -RRB- kept his mouth shut about it . He does n't seem willing to bite his tongue now .

Photos : Clinton 's last days in office

Clinton is n't the first president to meddle in presidential politics after his own presidency ended . So great was his dislike of Dwight Eisenhower that Harry Truman could n't stay out of the 1952 race and even campaigned against Ike that fall . Richard Nixon made life unpleasant for Gerald Ford in the 1976 Republican primary -LRB- and seemed determined to undercut George Bush in 1992 , to Clinton 's benefit -RRB- . But Clinton 's grudge is n't personal ; it 's about how best to mount and run a campaign .

How much of his personal popularity Clinton will spend to win this argument is unclear , but nearing age 66 , as the new poll shows , the former president has time to earn it back .

@highlight

Bill Clinton is riding high in the opinion polls , with a 66 % favorability rating

@highlight

Michael Duffy says it 's a sign that former presidents ' popularity increases after White House

@highlight

He says some have suggested Clinton 's comments have been an effort to undermine Obama

@highlight

Duffy : Clinton is more likely acting as a campaign consultant , urging point of view on Obama